KBIS: smart kitchens shift
Appliance makers are treating connected features as standard: Samsung says its 2026 Bespoke AI kitchen appliances are available now and will expand its Bespoke AI 3‑Door French Door refrigerators with new AutoView glass‑door models later this year. (news.samsung.com) Samsung also pushed SmartThings‑connected top‑mount freezers in India and an AI Smart GEO WindFree heat pump in New Zealand that emphasizes app controls and energy tracking, pointing to a trend of energy‑focused, app‑first appliances. (themobileindian.com) (futurefive.co.nz) LG is leaning design‑forward too, unveiling a new full built‑in kitchen suite on the show circuit which underlines that aesthetics and connectivity are both selling points this season. (prnewswire.com)
The kitchen appliance pitch used to be stainless steel, bigger burners, and more cubic feet. At the 2026 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, the new default looked more like a phone plan: app control, energy dashboards, and screens built into the door. (news.samsung.com) Samsung said on April 9 that its 2026 Bespoke Artificial Intelligence appliances are now on sale in the United States, including Bespoke Artificial Intelligence 3-Door French Door refrigerators and Bespoke Smart Slide-in ranges. The same announcement said new AutoView models with a glass door panel are coming later in 2026. (news.samsung.com) That glass panel turns transparent with a knock, so the refrigerator door doubles as a screen and a window. Samsung is treating that kind of connected feature as part of the core product, not a premium side experiment. (news.samsung.com) A month earlier, Samsung used the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show to frame the same idea more broadly: refrigerators, ranges, and Dacor luxury appliances all tied into SmartThings, the company’s home-control app. In Samsung’s version of the kitchen, the appliance is one piece and the software layer is the other. (news.samsung.com) The push is not just about convenience buttons like preheating an oven from the couch. Samsung’s April 9 launch in New Zealand for its Artificial Intelligence Smart GEO WindFree heat pump led with energy costs, app controls, and SmartThings Energy tracking as the selling points. (samsung.com) Samsung made the same energy argument in India with new Bespoke Artificial Intelligence top-mount freezer refrigerators that connect to SmartThings. The launch pitch there centered on remote control, SmartThings Energy, and features aimed at lowering electricity use in a market where power bills are a daily concern. (themobileindian.com) That shift lines up with what the National Kitchen and Bath Association said in its 2026 trends report. The group said smart technology is gaining traction in kitchens, especially Wi‑Fi-enabled and mobile-app-controlled appliances and lighting. (nkba.org) LG is pushing from the other side of the showroom. On April 10, it said it will unveil a full built-in kitchen package at EuroCucina 2026 in Milan, with refrigerators, ovens, induction cooktops, and dishwashers designed as one coordinated suite. (prnewswire.com) LG’s message is that connected appliances now have to disappear into the room instead of looking like gadgets. Its announcement paired Artificial Intelligence-driven performance with space optimization and a design brief built for European kitchens, where smaller footprints make integration part of the product. (prnewswire.com) Put Samsung and LG together and the pattern is clear by April 2026: the smart kitchen is no longer one refrigerator with a giant screen. It is a full lineup where the refrigerator, range, heat pump, and dishwasher are all expected to connect to an app, track energy, and still look good enough to vanish into the cabinets. (news.samsung.com) (prnewswire.com)
